The East West Hospitality Scribe

US FROZEN YOGURT CHAINS REALLY SHOW THAT EAST AND WEST DO MEET!

Does anyone remember the first wave of Frozen Yogurt shops to hit the USA in the 1980's?  First it was TCBY (The Country's Best Yogurt) followed by many smaller players like Heidi's Frozen Yogurt, I Can't Believe It's Yogurt, etc. Well the trend basically died out as most Americans continued to enjoy the regular ice cream at their supermarkets in addition to premium brands like Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs as well as Baskin Robbins at the retail level.  Well it is no secret that frozen yogurt is now all the rage again but this time the craze was started by a few Korean entrepreneurs who saw the growth of the category in their native country and decided to try it in the USA.

The second wave began in South Korea in 2002 with the introduction of the Red Mango concept and for several years the brand did great growing to over 150 stores. But Korean women are fickle consumers and why they may say they love to eat "healthy" they are still devouring their Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins every chance they got.  The franchise owner of Dunkin Brands in Seoul was no fool so he just out-marketed Red Mango and blanketed the country with more Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbin stores in a Cafe' format with Italian espresso machines. Red Mango started to falter and  the number of stores has declined to about 130 today.  So the bloom is off the "frozen yogurt" rose in South Korea.

SOME UPDATES ON CHINA

First an apology for not keeping this blog up to date the past two months.  Too much traveling and getting into hotel rooms at 11pm is a reasonable excuse but not one I am very proud of.  Expect me to do a lot better going forward.

Seven & i Holdings Entering China's Food Service Market

Seven & i Holdings, for those who do not know the company, is the most successful retailer in Japan with their convenience stores (Seven Eleven) , Super Stores (Ito Yokado) and restaurants (Denny's) among others. The Company pioneered the family restaurant category in the 1970's by taking out a license for the USA Denny's concept, and realized that mass localization of the menu was the only way to develop a profitable business. So the Company bought out the license from the USA parent and has developed over 500 stores in that time.  Pizza Hut is the only successful Western family restaurant chain in China today with virtually no competition but this is likely to change if Seven & i Holdings takes something similar to the Japanese Denny's concept to China.  Expect to see omurice, curry rice, hamburg steak and all the other westernized Japanese menu items (Yoshoku) together with Japanese food favorites like ramen and tonkatsu.  This is a big idea that can definitely work.  Stay tuned for updates!